Art Institute of Chicago

Steamer in Lake Thun, Switzerland

Date

c. 1860

Medium

Albumen print

Culture

France

Department

Photography and Media

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

Adolphe Braun first took up photography as an aid in his burgeoning wallpaper and textile design business, concentrating on the floral and other still–life compositions that brought him international acclaim. Around 1859 he began to focus on making large–format, panoramic, and stereoscopic views of locales in Switzerland and Germany, which he marketed to the emerging tourist audience. Within about 10 years he had amassed a catalogue of around 6,000 stereoscopic views and more than 500 panoramas, which were sold near tourist destinations and in curio shops. In this image of Lake Thun, bordering Interlaken, Switzerland, Braun portrayed a snaking waterway framed by mountains on either side, an image modeled on picturesque painted landscapes.

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